Here's to Us
by runawaygoddess
Summary: Here's to all the tears and the laughter. To the smiles and the drinks. To the nights and mornings after. To the pranks and the freaks. Here's to all the mistakes we ever made and the problems we fixed up. And most of all: here's to us.
1. here's to us

**disclaimer:** _not my characters, plot references, etc._

**notes:** _Late nights, no regrets. Starting over, feeling fresh. Looking fly and feeling fine. Come on baby, one more time. Let's live it up._

**dedication:** _To all the girls and the boys who got it goin' on. All the sistas and the mistas and the long-time brothas. We goin' far on our wings of light. We gettin' so fucking high offa life. We goin' places and doin' things. Gonna make it so far your ears'll ring. But we'll be back and when we are, baby girl, I'ma be a motherfucking star._

_**Here's to Us**_

* * *

She was sitting on the steps outside the auditorium, enjoying the warm summer evening air. Her black ceremonial gown was hanging open over her bright, emerald green dress. Her graduation cap with its gold tassel sat next to her on the concrete steps. She wasn't the only one sitting out here, avoiding the inevitable change about to be thrust upon them. All her friends, the people she had been with since kindergarten, they were out here too, looking just as nervous as she felt. She blinked the almost setting sun out of her green eyes and turned to look at the tall, slender blonde girl lying on the step just below her.

"You're going to get dirt in your hair," she pointed out, breaking the silence. Ino snorted and stuck her grad cap under her head.

"Problem solved," Suigetsu commented sarcastically.

"Shut up, asshole," Ino snapped, flipping him off with a perfectly manicured and moisturized middle finger.

Sakura played with the gold cord hanging around her neck, a symbol of her academic excellence. Out of all her friends only a few of them received it. She had no idea how Shikamaru had wrangled his; he slept through all his classes. Hinata worked hard at everything she did and Neji had no choice but to achieve excellence. Sakura got hers because she slaved away, long hours, to pass every test and project with flying colours. And Sasuke, he got his by giving in to his burning desire to be better than his brother.

The group, she thought, all in all, was pretty messed up. But that's why they got along so well. They all had their issues to deal with, so no one was afraid of being judged in this group. Karin didn't care that she almost didn't graduate and it didn't matter that Suigetsu and Kiba got arrested that one time. It didn't make any difference that Lee and Gaara were in the closet any more than Shikamaru proposing to Temari mattered. Ino's family fell apart, but no one asked uncomfortable questions, they were just there for the comforting group hug and mass ice cream/chick flick – a thon. It didn't matter that Tenten had been on trial for manslaughter when she killed a man in self defense because he tried to rape her. Naruto had impossible ambitions and Hinata had too much pressure and Neji had high expectations of himself. Chouji had been having on and off eating disorder problems and Sasuke's father expected him to achieve nothing. And Sakura expected herself to achieve whatever was within her reach, no matter the cost.

They all had their issues and their insecurities, but none of that mattered. All that mattered is that they were here, together, at the end of the longest, most painful, most exciting, most entertaining, most wonderful journey of their lives. They were there; they had made it to the end together.

"Guys," she said into the silence.

"Hm?" Tenten looked around.

"We're graduating tonight," she said. "This is it. We're finally getting out of high school."

"About damn time," Naruto said, leaning back against the trunk of a tree.

"Yeah," Sasuke sat up and brushed grass off his sleeves. "I fucking hated high school."

A few of them chuckled. Most of them hated high school.

"Some parts of high school were good," Ino said.

"Yeah?" Sasuke asked. "Like what?"

"I dunno," Ino shrugged. "You guys."

"Awwe!" Karin shot up the steps and flung her arms around Ino's neck. "Don't make me cry before we even get in there girl!"

"Do you guys remember that one time when Karin didn't have her project for Kakashi's class?" Naruto asked suddenly. Suigetsu laughed loudly, breaking the serenity.

"Yeah man! And she got all cutesy and shit to try and get an extension!"

"Shut up, ass face," Karin threw her hat at him. "I got an extension, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but only after you agreed to wash his car for a week," Suigetsu chortled and threw Karin's hat back at her.

"What about that time Sasuke and Naruto accidentally kissed? Remember in freshman year?" Temari giggled. Sasuke and Naruto scooted away from each other amid gales of laughter.

"Well how about that time when you and Shu=ikamaru broke up because he thought you liked me?"Sasuke shot at her.

"You're kind of dumb for a smart guy, Shika,"Ino said. He merely grumbled at her and lay back on the grass to stare at the small, fluffy white clouds.

"How about that time, in junior year, when Sakura practically forced Sasuke-teme to go out with her. That was funny,"Naruto high fived Kiba, laughin at his best friend's expense.

"Fuck off, dobe," Sasuke growled.

"Well I'm lucky I did," Sakura said. "Or he'd still be single."

They all laughed (even Sasuke managed something like a smile) and settled back again, reminiscing on their own.

"You nervous for your speech, Sak?" Tenten asked.

"Please don't remind me," Sakura said. She pushed the crushing dread at her Valedictorian speech out of her mind.

"What time is it?" Neji asked. Hinata checked her watch.

"We should go in now," she said. She got up and linked arms with Tenten and Temari.

"Good luck, everyone."

Sakura followed them all inside, listening to their laughter and nervous phrases. She stopped and looked back out at the orange and blue sky and the setting sun.

"Hey," Sasuke held his hand out to her. "You coming?"

"Yeah," Sakura took his hand. "I was just looking at the view."

* * *

When they announced her name for her speech Sakura got up, shaking slightly. Kiba and Suigetsu, who were sitting closest to her, cheered loudly as she climbed the stairs to the stage. She stepped up to the podium microphone and took a breath.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, families and friends, esteemed guests and, most importantly welcome to the graduating class," she said. She straightened her shoulders as she squinted through the bright lights at the audience. "As I stand here, I think about all the things in high school that I did and didn't do. I remember everything I enjoyed and everything I regret. I see so much history here, and although I am glad that the time for graduation as finally come, some part of me will always miss this. There is a comforting familiarity to high school that no one really wants to leave. I think that I can safely say that most of us are scared of what lies ahead of us. It's natural to feel fear before approaching the unknown. But as we cling to old memories we have to remember that what we did in high school doesn't have to define us. It is only one part of the story of our lives that helps to shape us. And there is so much more to the story than we think there is."

"I am honoured and a little nervous to be speaking to you all tonight, because this adds certain finality to our graduation ceremony. And while I am excited at my plans for next year and for the future, I have to admit, I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll go out into the world and I won't measure up. And I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one with that fear. It's a natural fear, but it's something, I think, that bonds us together. It is the bonds we form that are important. We have precious little to cherish and those bonds and friendships are something we have to treasure forever. I know for a fact that my time at high school would have been terrible if I didn't have the excellent friends I do."

"It is of these bonds that I want to speak, because I know some of you are afraid that the bonds will eventually wear away and break with time. While this may be true, it only means that the ones that persevere and get stronger with age and time are the ones all the more worth having. So even if you're afraid, if you have good people who love and support you in your life, then things will work out. Not everything will go right, but things will be better if you have the best kinds of people at your side."

"So take a moment to look back and remember all those people and make sure that when you look back later on in life that those people will still be there. Because those are the people who are worth knowing and sharing your life with. And what a wonderful life it will be. Since I have to wrap my speech up soon, I have only one more piece of advice to share with you. It's something that I learned from experience, growing up. The only thing that you can do with certainty in life is be comfortable with yourself. So the next time you feel like you aren't good enough, remember that maybe, instead of being worse than someone else, you haven't reached your full potential yet. So go forth, after this evening, with the people who love you and feel comfortable in your own skin. If you have confidence in yourself and you have a support network that would stay up all night giving you advice, then I think that you will have a happy, fulfilling life. With that in mind, I would like to say, one last thing. I probably will not see many of you ever again, so I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone here. We graduated, with time to spare. So, graduating class of 2012; here's to us."

* * *

**extras:**_ I was feeling like a rap star earlier. And now I'm feeling a little sad. Just graduated, which is what brought this on. No, I wasn't valedictorian, but that's okay. I tried for nostalgic, but seeing as it's almost 2 am where I am, I'm not sure how well that turned out. Oh well. R&R please! Love you guys! 3_


	2. glory days: the prequel

**disclaimer: **_don't own the characters_

**notes:**_ we bringin' the sound on, we bringin' the noise/ lemme hear ya'll sound off/ we gonna party with the boys/ so we're lightin' this town up, never let 'em forget/ who we are for a second/ because we the shit._

**dedication: **_to the long time lovers and the sky scraping brothers, to the chicks and the dicks and the dirty, sexy tricks. to the life time friends and the nights that never end. to the morning after, when we're too drunk for laughter. to the crazy parties and the fights we started. to the sleepy hazes and to those good, old, glory-type days._

_**Glory Days**_

* * *

One year. That was all they had left. Just one year. And then it was all over. One year and they were out there, in the world.

Sakura would have liked to be a little bit terrified, but she never got the chance because at that exact moment Naruto and Suigetsu went tumbling across the desks in front of her, wrestling for something. She winced as her books and pencil case tumbled to the ground, and scooted her chair back to the row of desks behind her.

"What exactly are they fighting over?" she asked. Ino snapped her gum loudly and shrugged, flipping the page of her magazine. Shikamaru didn't even lift his head up off his desk when he muttered: "Who cares?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"They're fighting over Kurenai's pen," he said.

"They're fighting over Kurenai's pen," Sakura repeated. Sasuke nodded. "In Asuma's class. Dumb asses."

"My sentiments exactly," Sasuke commented dryly.

Sakura folded her arms on Sasuke's desk and put her head down on them. She listened to the ruckus with half an ear, mostly concentrating on the light smell of soap that always seemed to accompany Sasuke wherever he went. His hands, the closest part of him to her at the moment, were slender, but calloused from his job at the junk yard. He twirled his pencil, tapping the eraser on the desk every so often. She wondered, briefly, if he ever watched her like she watched him. She doubted it.

"You two!" Asuma barged into the classroom, red-faced and angry. "SIT DOWN!"

Naruto and Suigetsu scrambled to their seats. Smirking, Kiba picked the pen up off the floor and tucked it in his pocket. Suigetsu flipped him off.

"Now, just because you're one year from graduating is no excuse to completely disregard the rules," Asume said boomingly. "Both of you get detention for two days after school. Starting today."

"Aww, what? C'mon, Asume-sensei!" Suigetsu and Naruto groaned.

Ino snorted. "You had it coming," she said snidely, tucking her magazine away in her massive purse. She waved at Asuma and winked. Sakura sighed and sat up. She shot Ino a stern look before sliding back to her desk and picking up her stuff. The eleventh grade was going to be a long grade…she could tell already.

* * *

Karin was squatting, behind a dumpster, in stilettoes. She couldn't believe she was in this situation, but because it was going to help two of her friends become very happy together, she was willing to put up with the disgusting smell of the garbage three feet above her head.

"This had better be a fucking amazing plan, Lee," she growled.

"It is amazing and will no doubt bring forth the youthful longing in Tenten and Neji," Lee proclaimed. Karin wanted to beat her head into either the steel dumpster to her right or the brick wall to her left. Lee never said anything normally.

"All right," she glared at Lee and at his creepy, silent, constant companion, Gaara. Sure, Temari was pretty normal, as far as normalcy goes, but her brother was a fucking nut job as far as Karin could tell. "One of you spill this brilliant plot of yours or I'm going back inside. It's fucking December. Would it have killed you to meet me in a café or something?"

Lee ignored her sensible negativity completely and Gaara was silent, as usual. "We have concocted a plan to make Neji act on his feelings for Tenten and to make Tenten realize her feelings for Neji!" Lee cried.

"Oh great," Karin rolled her eyes. "Look, I get that you mean well, but after Tenten's…incident, don't you think meddling in her love life is a bad idea?"

"What love life?" Gaara said, tonelessly. He was kind of a bland guy. Except when he was threatening someone who offended his friends in anyway.

Karin shuddered as she remembered Tenten's trial. Gaara had sat behind the dirtbag who accused her of purposefully murdering his rapist brother the whole time. All he did was stare at him, but he had this freaky way of looking at you without blinking that made you feel like your insides were shrivelling up. By the end of the first day Karin thought the guy was going to piss himself. By the end of the week the jury found her not guilty. Karin was actually surprised that the asshole didn't drop the charges.

"Fair point," she agreed with him. "But still, guys. I don't know if this is smart."

"Hear our plan, O youthful cousin of that horrible Uchiha," Lee said. "And pass judgement on it after you know the details."

"Okay, fine, but Gaara has to tell me. I don't want any of that flowery crap you do when you talk. It's fucking minus two out here and these jeans are not insulating my legs at all."

"We want to make it so that Tenten is comfortable and trusting of Neji. Then he'll feel more comfortable confessing his feelings and she'll be more accepting to the idea," Gaara said flatly. Karin shivered and rubbed her hands together before sticking them back in her coat pockets.

"Great," she drawled through chattering teeth. "How exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"We volunteered Neji to drive Tenten to her weekly therapy appointments," Gaara said.

"Wow," Karin said after a pause. "I'm impressed. That was pretty sneaky of you two. All right, if I see an opportunity to nudge this along I will. But only nudge. I don't want this to blow up in our faces."

She stood up and stomped her feet before stepping out from behind the dumpster. "I'm going back inside before I freeze my fucking ass off."

* * *

Sasuke was in agony. Not physically, but mentally. Here he was, one of the smartest kids in school, sitting at his desk, staring at his test paper, his mind completely blank. The entire back page of his test was empty. He had no idea when they'd learned this stuff, but apparently they had and clearly he'd checked out of class when it happened.

When the fuck did they learn about quadratic equations?

It sounded vaguely familiar, but it definitely wasn't something he'd studied. First it had been parabolas, then it was exponential growth graphs, then there was a bit of a hazy period where Sakura had been sitting next to him the week Naruto was sick.

Ah, fuck. That's probably when they did that chapter. How the fuck was he supposed to have memorized a key equation with HER sitting next to him?

He threw his pencil down on the desk. It bounced, clattered against the edge of his calculator and rolled onto the floor. Swearing under his breath, he leaned over to pick it up. At that exact moment Sakura got up from her desk behind his and walked by. From his bent of position he could see the way her skinny jeans hugged her hips and traveled down her thighs, into her knee high boots. The thick grey wool of her knit sweater stopped just above the curve of her butt, giving it an extra lift when she walked.

He sat up before she could turn around and catch him checking her out. A piece of lined paper, torn out of a note book, was sitting on top of his test. On it, written in a familiar hand, was the exact formula he failed to memorize.

He slid the paper off the test page and tucked it under his hand. After he finished his test and handed it in he tore a piece of lined paper out of his own note book at scribbled on it. Then he waited until Sakura left for the washroom and he dropped it on her desk.

He felt stupid and exhilarated at the same time. Note passing was juvenile, but when you were note passing with the girl you like…God, his heart was beating so fast.

He put his head down on his desk so no one could see him blush.

* * *

_I owe you one._

"Cute," Karin sneered. "He can spell. That's the way to a girl's heart."

Ino laughed and they high fived. Tenten snorted.

"Shut up," Sakura snatched the note back. Karin might sneer at it, but those four words were enough to make her hyperventilate. "I don't have to come to you guys with my boy dilemmas."

"All right, all right. I just don't really understand what you want us to do here," Karin waved a hand. "It's not like you haven't helped people out before."

"I see your problem," Hinata said.

"See!" Sakura said. "Hinata gets it."

"That's because Hinata is in your exact same situation, besides the debt owed thing," Karin rolled her eyes. "Just grab the bull by the horns and ask him out. Seriously, this is the 21st century. Grow some balls."

"I'm going to assume you meant metaphorical ones," Sakura said primly.

"No I meant real ones, obviously," Karin snorted sarcastically. She rolled her eyes and pulled out her nail file. "Just got up to him and say 'hey, I have a thing, and you have a thing. Let's have a thing together.' And then you bring up Italian."

"What?" Sakura frowned. Karin's language was always a bit of a mystery to her.

"Italian. Like the food," Karin said, rolling her eyes again.

"Why?" Sakura asked. She tucked her pink hair behind her ear.

"You bring up the fact that you love Italian food and then a few days later he suggests taking you out for Italian. This proves that he not only likes you, but he listens to you, which, when dealing with a girl who is not best friends with a couple of relationship masterminds, would usually score him major 'sensitivity' points," Karin patiently explained.

"But I don't love Italian. I like it, but I don't love it. I could probably live without it," Sakura said. Karin shrugged.

"That is immaterial. You just say that you do so that he can prove himself to you as sensitive, emotionally conscious and whatever other crap you sadsacks want to delude yourselves into believing."

"Harsh, K," Ino said. "But true. You guys are hopeless romantics. No guy is actually that sensitive and emotionally intact."

"Just because you guys have given up and gone over to the dark side doesn't mean we have to go with you," Hinata said.

"Not the dark side," Karin shook her head. "The sexy side where we aren't bound by the regular rules of society."

She popped a chip into her mouth, borrowing from Tenten's bag.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? These are not for you," Tenten snapped.

"Yeah whatever. Don't you have an appointment to keep? I saw Neji heading to his car earlier looking pretty dejected. Did you send him home with his tail between his legs?" Karin teased.

"No," Tenten glared. "I told him I had to deal with you morons first and that I'd meet him out there."

"Well that was really nice of him to volunteer to drive you to your appointments," Sakura said, steamrolling Karin before she had the chance to make a joke. "But you should go or you'll be late."

"Eh, I don't care about those stupid appointments," Tenten shrugged. "It's not like I'm traumatized or anything."

"Sure you aren't," Karin said. She arched her eyebrow at Tenten. "Go to your appointment. Neji is nice enough to offer to drive you. It's rude to keep people waiting."

"All right, all right. I'll go to the dumb appointment," Tenten grumbled. She threw her bag of chips at Karin and left in a bit of a huff.

"That was even more harsh, K," Ino said. "She doesn't need sarcasm right now you know."

"Well I had to get her out of here somehow. That poor guy would sit there all night if he thought he had to to get her attention. I'm just giving him a fair shot."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Sakura asked. "I mean, Tenten is in a rough place right now."

"Hinata," Karin said. "Back me up here. Tell them that Neji would gouge his own eyes out rather than hurt Tenten, intentionally or not."

"It's true," Hinata nodded. "He probably would. He really has it bad for her."

"Great, so now that we're satisfied that Tenten is in good hands, can we move back to Sakura's boy crisis, so-called?"

* * *

Tenten wanted to scream. She didn't, but she wanted to. She also wanted to launch herself across the room and strangle the prim therapist sitting across from her. Stupid bitch wanted to 'talk' about her feelings and try to 'understand' her violent reaction to her 'recent trauma'.

Tenten didn't want to talk. She wanted to go beat the living shit out of something until she was tired, and then she wanted to get an ice cream. But no one seemed to be interested in what she wanted. The court wanted her to attend therapy until the therapist signed off on her mental health. Her friends (who meant well) wanted to be less scared for her. And the school wanted to smooth the whole thing over and forget this ever happened.

The only person who didn't tell her what they wanted was the guy who drove her here every week. Neji was completely silent on the drive there and back. He also hardly looked at her. Tenten couldn't tell if it was because he was disgusted by her or not. She didn't know if he was driving her because Hinata asked him to or if he wanted to do this.

"Well, I hope we can make some more progress next week."

"Yeah, whatever," Tenten muttered, getting out of her chair and stomping out of the office. She had gotten used to stomping in, glaring, sitting silently for an hour and then stomping out again. This was never going to end.

"Ugh, let's go," she growled when she got in the car. Neji put his book in the backseat and turned the keys in the ignition.

"How was the session?" he asked. It was the first time he'd said anything.

"Stupid," Tenten snapped. "I don't want to talk to that callous bitch. She has no idea what she's talking about. Her degrees are bullshit."

"Well do you want to find a different therapist?" he asked.

"No," Tenten directed her glare to him. "I don't. I don't want to see any therapists. I'm fine."

Neji slammed on the brakes in the middle of the deserted road.

"You killed someone who tried and almost succeeded in hurting you. You are not fine. No one is that good at compartmentalizing, Tenten. I know you don't like this woman that the court appointed to you. But I am willing to help you find someone you'd be willing to talk to, if you wanted me to. I am willing to research other options of therapy that you are more comfortable with, if that's what you want."

"I don't want therapy!" Tenten shouted. "I want to go to the gym, beat the shit out of someone and then get ice cream! That's what I fucking want to do!"

"Fine!" Neji shouted back. "We'll do that then."

"Fine!" Tenten yelled. She crossed her arms and huffed at him before turning to look out the window. "Thanks for driving me," she mumbled.

"You're welcome," he said. "It's my pleasure."

Tenten pulled her scarf up over her mouth and grinned.

* * *

**SAK:** OMG KARIN I'M NOT READY FOR THIS!

**KarBear:** Woman, what are you talking about?

**SAK:** I think I just got asked out by Sasuke

**KarBear:** What do you mean 'you think'?

**SAK:** Um he came up to me and was like 'hey' and then I said 'hey' and he said 'we should hang out sometime. Like just us, you know?' so I said 'yeah, ok.' And he said 'cool' and started to walk away so I said 'I like Italian'. And he gave me a funny look and nodded and left.

**KarBear:** Oh for balls sake. Ok, you know what? Just go tell him that you're only free Friday because you have a bunch of club meetings during the week and that you have to be home by ten because your mom needs your help cleaning out the garage early Saturday morning.

**SAK:** What? Why?

**KarBear:** Just do it. And for god sake shut up about Italian.

* * *

**Sasu-Face:** Karin, I asked Sakura out and she said something about liking Italian…she doesn't like Italian as far as I know.

**KarBear:** Child, please, just stop reading into it.

**Sasu-Face:** Whatever. Do you have any suggestions on where we should go? I know you love to meddle in these things.

**KarBear:** One, I don't meddle; I assist. Two, I think she's only free Friday this week. Three, FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF! YOU'RE LEGAL VOTING AGE ALMOST! Also, she really likes this cute little Japanese restaurant down by all those expensive boutiques your mom likes downtown. Take her there.

**Sasu-Face: **…thanks. And calm down, woman or you'll have an aneurism.

**KarBear:** GO TALK TO HER. NOW.

* * *

Sakura was sitting on the bench near the football field, swinging her feet against the cool winter air. She spotted Naruto, always exuberant, walking with Kiba and Suigetsu, away from the locker rooms.

"Hey, is Sasuke still in there?" she called across the grass to them.

"Yeah, he's talking to the coach. He'll be out soon though. I think he's trying to scoop my scholarship!" Naruto laughed loudly at the idea. Everyone knew Naruto had the Hokage's Sportsmanship and Athletics Excellence Scholarship in the bag.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," she called, waving at them. They waved and shouted various goodbyes to her, as well as some advice on sex (from Suigetsu) and chokeholds (Kiba and Naruto) as they walked away.

"Stupid bastards," Sasuke said, sourly, coming to sit next to her on the bench.

"Ha, they mean it all with love," Sakura shrugged. "What were you talking to the coach about?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just withdrawing my scholarship application. They only give out one to each high school and Naruto needs it more than I do. Besides, I already know that I'm going to get the business scholarship."

"Hmm, confident, aren't you? You know we still have a whole other year to apply for these, right?" Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. "But they start counting grades now, so I want to be prepared."

"I'm free Friday. But I have to be home by ten. My mom needs help early in the morning to clean out the garage," Sakura said.

"Huh?" Sasuke looked at her blankly.

"You said we should hang out, just to two of us, didn't you?" Sakura asked, standing up. "I'm free to hang out with just you on Friday."

"Oh, yeah, Friday. Cool."

"So I'll see you in Calc tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see you."

Sakura turned and walked away, her hands in her pockets, grinning into her scarf. She was pretty sure her face was the colour of a tomato but she didn't really care. Because she had a date. On date night.

* * *

Tenten followed Neji into the gym dubiously. He had been taking her to this place ever since she expressed the desire to hit something over and over, but she wasn't really sure she liked it here. Then she saw someone she recognized.

"Tenten, I haven't seen you around the house lately. Was it something I said?" Inoichi joked, grinning at her.

"Hey Mr Y, what's up?" she waved and stuck her hands in her hoodie pockets.

"Neji said you didn't like talking therapy. But he mentioned that you like to box."

"Did he?" Tenten turned her icy glare on Neji. Neji stared blankly back at her. He blinked once and nodded his chin in the direction of the weights.

"Do you mind?" he asked Inoichi.

"Go for it," Ino's dad nodded. "Sit here with me, Tenten," he pulled out two blue, plastic folding chairs. "Now watch."

Tenten sat and looked where he was pointing. Directly in front of her was a boxing ring with two burly men inside, beating each other to a pulp.

"What do you see?"

"Boxers," Tenten shrugged. "Look, Mr Y, I don't know what Neji told you but I'm totally fine."

"They aren't just boxers, Tenten. Look again," Inoichi directed her back to the fight. "Look at their control. Look at the way they know what their opponent can take and what will put him on the ground. Look at the grace of their movements and the speed of their skill. Look at the amount of control it takes to win a fight."

"What are you getting at?" Tenten asked, mesmerized by the fighters and his words.

"You need to feel in control," he said. "You went through a terrible trauma and now you're struggling to get back the feeling of control you used to have. So learning something new, learning control all over again, it's a good way to cope."

"So you want me to learn to box. As my therapy?" Tenten looked at him incredulously. "Seriuosly?"

"You're a black belt in various martial arts, why not add pro-boxer to that lost? Boxing takes control, but you have to re-learn everything you once knew in order to achieve it. I'm a professional therapist, Tenten. I've used this method before and it has had better results then talking therapy. And it seems like this kind of therapy would suit you more."

"Can you sign off on my sheet?"

"Yes I can. But you have to show up and show improvement or you'll be here forever."

"Ok," Tenten nodded. "And can we not call it therapy?"

* * *

Karin sat down on the grass in the sun next to Gaara and Lee.

"Are you two happy now? Tenten is smiling for the first time in months even though she's got a black eye and a sprained ankle and Neji is giving her piggy back rides everywhere."

"We're very happy at the glorious sight of their youthful springtime love!" Lee proclaimed.

"Let's hope it doesn't get too spring-like. We don't need those two social retards to start breeding. It would be a whole family of really quite, intense, violent people who carry switchblades in their bras," Karin shuddered.

"Hmm," Gaara said. Karin raised her eyebrow at his creepy half smile and stood up.

"Ok, so I'm going to go find Ino and the rest of the single people now. Have fun doing…whatever it is that you two do."

"Farewell, beautiful cousin of the hated Uchiha! May your springtime youth flourish to full bloom and bring you many suitors!" Lee shouted after her.

"Right," Karin muttered. "I'll get right on that."

* * *

"And then I nailed her in the face with a massive right hook and she went DOWN!" Tenten demonstrated her massive right hook on the air for her girlfriends.

"So you punched a chick and she went down?" Karin asked.

"Well she was twice my size, so I think it's a little more impressive than it sounds," Tenten crossed her arms. This week she had barely any boxing related injuries. Except a few sore muscles.

"When's your next fight?" Karin asked. "I want to see you kick some ass."

"Two weeks from Tuesday. Book it off ladies. You will have front row seats!"

"All riiight!" Karin high fived her.

"Do you guys mind keeping it down? Sakrura snapped. "We're trying to pick our courses over here."

"Should I take History or AP Psychology?" Ino asked, twisting her hair around her fingers.

"Depends on which one you actually like," Sakura said, scribbling AP Biology down. "Or if you want to be like your dad."

"Oh, good point. History it is," Ino sighed. "But what if it's boring?"

"Then take Pysch," Karin shrugged. "The only course you _need_ to take is English anyway. So who cares about the rest?

"You could c-care a little m-more," Hinata said, shoving Karin's empty course selection sheet across the table at her. "Pick some easy A c-courses so that you can at l-least graduate with the r-rest of us."

"Ugh, fine," Karin grabbed a pencil. "I'll take…Biology 11. I skipped that last year. And this Geology course sounds easy. I could take acting. It could be fun, right?"

"What about dance?" Tenten pointed.

"Oh, I already have Dance Performance and Choreography. Plus a free and a peer mentoring period with Kurenai."

"Okay, so take English and you should be set," Sakura said.

"Oooh, right. I forgot about that. God I hope I don't end up with Kakashi. That guy gives the worst assignmets."

"Then take AP with me. He never teaches AP. He's too lazy to get up that early," Sakura said (famous last words, honey).

"I have a bad feeling about this," Karin mumbled as she added AP English to her courses. "Ok, done! Now can we please get the hell out of here and have some fun?"

* * *

**extras: **_so I finished it! This is the prequel, obvs. But I took forever writing it because I was really lazy over the summer and I had a free second and then I just put off my reading for school to get this done._

_**BIG NEWS! **__I have a twitter account for runawaygoddess. It's actually __** goddessrunaway**__. So follow me there for updates on my writing and just in general! I also have the link to my livejournal and my 'normal person' twitter on my profile. So please check them out! I would love to get in contact with you guys and have a chat!_

_MWAH!_

_Remember me when you're going to have fun and I'm holed up studying for midterms in a few weeks!_

_Love y'all!_

_runawaygoddess_


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